Waterfalls Photography

We recently returned from our second trip to Shetland. Awhile back I wrote about comparing an organized photo tour with a self-guided trip and you know what? My original feelings were only reinforced. We really like the idea of setting up a home base and working from there. This flight was our first ever time that our luggage got misplaced. I’m willing to bet it went to Bergen without us as there was a plane from the same airline loading for there when we arrived.

We had to purchase a few things to get us going but the horrendous weather was the real issue. It was so windy and cold we really didn’t have the clothing to do very much. Our luggage caught up to us by day 4 and we were set with our rain gear and some more layers to deal with the low teens temperatures we were experiencing. All things considered, I would rather be in some northern destination than sitting on a Caribbean beach any day.

One of my favourite images came from a hike we did in the rain. There is no bad weather, just poor choices in clothing they say.

Creativity

I find myself being pulled more and more into the black and white world. I have been going through my catalog and picking out the odd image that may eventually find it’s way into this project. The fun thing about black and white is that it has no connection to reality. Post-processing plays a big role and therefore, you own creativity. I have always said that the taking of the photo is only the beginning of the whole process of photography, the other half being the actual post processing of the photograph.

I really enjoy a moody and dramatic photo. To me, that makes the ultimate photo To me, this image is just about the perfect candidate to become a black and white with it’s basic lack of colour in the first place.

Guillemot Pair

While in Shetland in the summer you must go to the Isle of Noss where Thousands of pairs of seabirds nest. They have Guillemots, Shags, Gannets and likely lots that I’m not remembering too. You can get into the island via a boat between Noss and Bressay if you want to walk the island but we took a boat tour that takes you directly to the nesting site. It’s hard in a situation like that yo isolate birds in a frame but I manages this shot of a pair of Guillemots. Amazing how much they resemble small penguins. I like the environmental composition in this. Who says we have to fill the frame?

Editing, What Is Crossing The Line?

I recently had something come up that got me thinking about editing. I like editing and believe it is a normal and essential part of the photographic process. This is where you add your artistic vision into your photo. I’m not a believer in letting my camera process my photos, that’s why I shoot in RAW 100% of the time. That said, where do you cross the line? How much is too much?

I had a judge in a competition give me a comment that I should change the sky in the photo below. I always at least consider judge’s recommendations but this is a bit different, that isn’t something I typically do. When I do photography, I do my best to attain images that are appealing but also real representations of what I saw in the field. If I comp in a new sky every time I get a less than perfect one, is that ok? Is that image still a representation of what I saw when I was there? Not exactly.

My take away in this case? Competition judges assess your photos using criteria they have learned and I find they see things rather technically. Just because an image falls short in a competition doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a bad image. A technically imperfect image can at the same time be an aesthetically pleasing one. Shoot and create for yourself. It’s defeating the whole purpose of photography to try and please others. The image below resides on our wall as a canvas and we both enjoy it greatly, that makes me happy.

Photo of the Week # 223

A photographer I follow on YouTube has an interesting approach on new gear. He doesn’t push the newest and most expensive gear at you, nor does he even condone you buying it. He is a high end commercial photographer yet he uses equipment that most of us consider obsolete. Why? Because it does the job well and it is inexpensive.

I recently observed a conversation in a Facebook group where a person asked opinions regarding a quite high end PC he was considering for photo editing. He immediately began getting bombarded with opinions on why he should buy MAC and not that PC.

I’m so tired of the whole scene, I’m tired of the snobbery among photographers. I do follow YouTube photographers as I love to learn the craft but honestly, it’s like watching commercials for new and gear that I can’t afford and frankly, don’t need. They can’t even talk about their camera without rhyming off the brand and model of it.

In the real world, not all of us can afford the newest and greatest gear and that’s fine because it’s the photographer not the camera, right? I don’t have one of the new mirrorless bodies and to tell you the truth, I doubt I ever will. Picture quality hasn’t improved really, it’s mostly features that have changed and mostly to do with video, which I don’t do.

Another interesting observation Scott (Tin House Studio) made a point of the fact that if he troubles himself too much with the technical aspect of photography, it can kill the creative part of the job which is what he gets paid for in the first place. I immediately thought of myself as I worry far too much about the technical aspect and not enough about the creativity part.